Protesters have been campaigning for months for Arroyo to leave office [AFP]

Opposition groups filed a complaint against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Monday, in which they made new allegations of corruption, extra-judicial killings, torture and illegal arrests.

The complaint included charges of misconduct in a proposed telecommunications deal involving Chinese firm ZTE Corp, said Jose de Venecia III, a complainant and the son of a former House speaker who lost the bid for the project.

Arroyo, who won a six-year term in a presidential election in 2004, has denied any wrongdoing. She will not be eligible to seek re-election in 2010.

Anthony Golez, a presidential spokesman, accused the complainants of being self-serving at a time when the country needed to brace against impacts of the global financial crisis.

He said the latest impeachment bid contained recycled allegations that had no chance of success, likening it to "replaying a movie that never took off".

Arroyo has fended off three impeachment attempts over the past three years, with the House of Representatives, dominated by her allies, dismissing them on technicalities.

"If you look at the numbers, it's really an uphill battle," said Teodoro Casino, an opposition legislator who backed past impeachment attempts.

"But it's not just a complaint," he said. "It's a political statement, an exercise of our right to stand up against official wrongdoing."

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